Folding bed



(No Model.) 4 -"Sheeiss---Sheet 1.

F. N. POTTER.

FOLDING BED.

No. 451,842. 7 Patented May 5,1891.

'1 1 w |ll I ISM? mam. I lit/716m y MW 5 6W 7 j (No Model.) 4Sheets-Sheet 2. P. N. POTTER.

FOLDING BED. I No. 451,842. Patented May 5, 1891.

v Imam/tor 7 W fi @U/ I (No Model.) 4 Sh-eets'Sheet 3.

- 1-". N. POTTER.

1 FOLDING BED. No. 451,842. Patented May 6, 1891.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

P. N} POTTER. FOLDING BED.

'No. 451,842. I Patented May 5, 1891.

3 I i 5 9 Q a 5 I I a .12 g i i F 5 5 r 15 g i g i F 9 20 2 22\. m M 4 a5 i I I a .ZZW

Wifiwmw:

w: Norms rzrzns 00., anommnm WASNINGTDN, n, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT IOFFICEQ FRANK N. POTTER, OF ELKHART, INDIANA.

FOLDING BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 451,842, dated May5,1891.

Application filed April 30, 1890. Serial No. 350,040. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK N. POTTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Folding Beds, of which thefollowing is a specification. The object of my invention is to produce afolding or wardrobe bedstead which is at once simple, light,inexpensive, substantial, and neat in appearance, and which may bereadily operated by persons of moderate strength.

The bed is mounted on trunnions secured to the side rails and resting inbearings upon a stationary frame. The weight of the hinged bed iscounterbalanced by a vertical tension spring or springs attached at itsor their lower ends to the base of the stationary frame and at its ortheir upper ends to a horizontal beam, which slides in vertical ways inthe standards of the frame and is connected to the head of the bed bythrust-bars suitably guided and jointed to permit their lower ends tofollow the curve upon which the head of the bedframe moves, while theirupper ends impart a direct thrust to the horizontal sliding beam, ashereinafter described. A pillow holder or support is provided by meansof sliding wires attached behind the head-board of the moving bed-frame,so as to be out of sight when the bed is lowered for use, and passing upbehind the stationary head-board and through apertures in the horizontalsliding beam, or vice versa, so as to allow the said wires to conform tothe variation in distance between the head-board and the horizontalsliding beam as the bed is raised and lowered.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a rear perspective Viewshowing the bed lowered for use. Fig. II is a rear perspective viewshowing it elevated. Fig. III is a front perspective view showing itpartly elevated. Fig. IV is a vertical section showing the mode ofmounting the side rails upon trunnions in bearings upon the stationaryframe. Fig. V is a detail view of one of the jointed thrustbars whichconnect the head of the pivoted bed with the sliding beam. Fig.VI is aperspective view showing the adjustable connection between the upper endof a thrust-bar and an end of the beam. Fig. VII is a perspective viewof a hanger which is secured to a frame-standard. FigVIII is aperspective view of a trunnion, plate, washer, and nut, which aresecured to a side rail of the bedframe. I

1 represents the standards of the stationary frame, and 2 the stationaryhead-board attached thereto.

3 3 are the side rails of the hinged bedframe, connected by thefoot-board 4 and with a suitable facing 5, forming a wardrobe-front whenthe bed is in elevated position, which may be provided with a mirror, asshown, in customary manner. On the said wardrobefront are mountedbrackets 6 6, in which are pivoted feet 7 7, connected by a roller 8, sothat they may be placed at right angles to the'bed-frame to support thefoot thereof when it is lowered for use, or folded against thewardrobe-frontwhen elevated in the day-time. Ornamental handles 9 arealso provided on the wardrobe-front for manipulating the bed. To theside rails 3 are secured the trunnions 10, which rest on bearings inhangers 11, fixed to the inner faces of the frame-standards 1.

The trunnions 10 are supported in recesses 11 in the hangers, aresecured by plate 10, washers 10 and nuts 10, and are located asufficient distance from the head extremities of the side rails 3 toprovide for counterbalancing the weight of the hinged bed-frame by meansof tension-springs 12, which are attached at their lower ends to thebase 13 of the stationary frame, and at their upper ends to a horizontalbeam'14, which has a vertical sliding movement in or upon guides 15 onthe inner faces of the standards 1, and is connected at its slottedextremities by jointed thrust-bars 16 to lugs 17 upon the inner ends ofthe side rails 3 of the pivoted bed-frame. The thrust-bars 16 have anadjustable connection at their upper ends with the sliding horizontalbeam 14: by a number of holes 18, as shown in Fig. VI, to receive pins19, passing through the sliding beam 14, so as to adjust the tension ofthe springs to correspond with the weight of the bed. The upper membersof the thrust-bars 16 are guided in the vertical grooves 15, and arejointed to the lower members 16 by rivets 20, so as to permit the lowerends of the thrust-bars to conform to the arc described by theextremities of the lugs 17, by which the said thrust-bars bars areconcealed from view when the bed is unfolded. It will be seen that whenthe bed is unfolded the lugs project rearwardly and occupy a position tothe rear ofthe headboard beneath the thrust-bar and the beam. For singleand very light bedsteads a single counterbalance, spring 12 willsuffice; for very heavy bedsteads three or more may be used for ordinarydouble beds of medium weight two such springs as shown in the .presentillustration are found to operate with good effect, permitting the bedto be raised or lowered with ease by a child. By the varying leveragethus afforded in the attachment between the pivoted bed-frame and theverti-i tical sliding beam the resistance of the springs 12 increase,with the increasingweight of the I bed-frame as it is lowered.Wheregreater resistance is required to counterbalance a heavywardrobe-front or additional bedding, this is provided by changing theconnection between the thrust-bars 16 and thes-liding beam 14 by meansof the pins 19.

For the purpose of a pillow-holder, when the bed is in an elevatedposition for the day-time, I provide a number of sliding wires 23,attached attheir upper ends to the sliding horizontal beam 14 andpassing downward through eyes in the head-boards 2 and 3, so as toconform to the slightly varying distance between the head-board 3 of thepivoted bedframe, which moves in the arc of a circle,-and the slidingbeam 14, which has a rectilinear movement. \Vhen the bed is lowered inposition. for use, the wires 23 are concealed behind the fixedhead-board 2 of the stationary frame and the headboard 3 of thebedframe.

The pivoted bed-frame may be readily detached from the stationary frameby removin g the pins 24, which connect the lower members 16 of thethrust-bars to the lugs 17 onthe bed-rails 3. The trunnions 10 may thenbe freely lifted out of their bearings "and the;

'bed-t'rame removed.

Having thus described my invention, the

following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by LettersPatent 1. The combination of the frame having standards 1, provided withguides 15 on the inner faces thereof, the fixed head-board 2, secured tothe standards in front of the guides,

the hinged bed-frame having a head adapted to assume a position in linewith the headboard and to fit against thelatter, therearwardly-projecting lugs 17, secured over the head of the bed-frame,the beam 14, sliding in the guides at the rear of the head-board, the

jointed thrust-bars 16 16, located at the rear of the head-board,securedto the ends of the beam at their upper ends, and pivoted to thelugs at the rear of the head at their lower ends, and a tension-spring12, secured at its upper enddirectly to the beam and at its lower endattached to the base of the frame,

substantially as described.

2. The combination of the frame having standards 1, providedwith guides15, the

fixed head-board, the hinged bed-frame having ahead, therearwardly-projecting lugs 17,

"secured over the head of the bed-frame, the

the thrust-bars to the slotted ends of the beam, "and a tension-spring12, secured at its upper end directly to the beam and at its lower endattached to the base of the frame, substantially as described.

3. The combination ofthe frame having standards 1, provided with guides15, the head-board 2, secured to the standards, the hinged bed-frame,the lugs 17, secured to the inner end of the bed-frame,the beam 14,sliding in the guides at the rear of the headboard, the jointedthrust-bars 16, secured to the beam at their upper ends and pivoted tothe lugs at their lower ends,'a tension-spring 12, secured at its lowerend to the base of the frame and at its upper end to the beam, and theslidingwires extending from the beam to the head of the bed-frame,substantially as described.

FRANK N. POTTER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES W. FISH, JULIUS D. W001).

